108 people die in July in terrorist attacks

An Islamabad-based think tank has revealed that terrorist violence surged across the country in July following a slight decline in June.

The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) reported that 79 militant attacks took place in July, resulting in 108 deaths and 71 injuries.

Attacks rose by 14 per cent, while deaths surged by a staggering 80 per cent, and injuries increased by nine per cent from June.

In response to the rising violence, security forces intensified their operations and killed at least 50 terrorists in July, a 56 per cent increase from June.

Most of the terrorist attacks occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its merged tribal districts (formerly FATA), with 36 attacks reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, resulting in the deaths of 60 people and 27 others injured. In the tribal districts of the province, 30 people died in 26 attacks.

In Balochistan, 12 terror attacks resulted in 12 deaths and 24 injuries. Sindh experienced five attacks, leading to 6 deaths and two injuries.

A significant development in July was the arrest of Al-Qaeda leader Aminul Haque by Punjab’s counter-terrorism unit on July 18.

Security forces also killed 6 key commanders of the outlawed TTP in various operations based on secret information. This included Najeeb alias Abdul Rahman and Ashfaq alias Muawiya in the Tirah Valley of Khyber tribal district, Irfanullah alias Adnan in Bajaur, Shah Faisal in the Diamar district of Gilgit-Baltistan, and Noor Rehman in North Waziristan and Peshawar, where the shadow governor of the banned TTP was also targeted.